Monthly Archives: January 2018

Police Watch: Teen arrested for shoplifting at ST Associated after getting hit by car

Stuyvesant Town’s Associated Supermarket (Photo by Sabina Mollot)

SHOPLIFTING TEEN HIT BY CAR AFTER GETTING BUSTED AT STUY TOWN ASSOCIATED
A teenager was hit by a car after he was caught stealing beer from the Stuyvesant Town Associated on Friday.
A store employee said she saw him attempting to conceal the beer and leave the store and when she confronted him, he began cursing at her and punched the glass door, smashing it. When a customer attempted to intervene, the teen ran into the street and police said that he was hit by a car, suffering minor injuries. The district attorney’s office said that the 18-year-old was issued a desk appearance ticket for petit larceny and criminal mischief. A store employee declined to comment on the incident.

WOMAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING OFFICER AT BETH ISRAEL
Police arrested 45-year-old Lavina Nolley for alleged assault and criminal trespass inside Mount Sinai Beth Israel 281 First Avenue last Monday at 12:05 a.m. Police said that Nolley was discharged from the hospital after getting treatment but allegedly refused to leave. When an officer attempted to escort her out of the building, she allegedly kicked the officer in the knee, causing pain and swelling. Additional officers arrived and attempted to escort her out of the building but she allegedly struck the same officer in the face with her bag.

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Former Calvary rector Rev. Pike celebrates 80th birthday

Rev. Tom Pike with Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison and and Gramercy Park executive assistant Alex Nguyen (Photos by Ira Fox)

The Rev. Dr. Thomas Pike, formerly the rector of Calvary-St. George’s, celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday, January 10 at the parish house.

At the event, a video tribute in Pike’s honor was shown, made by Alex Nguyen, Matt Veligdan and Kamel Boutros. Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison also made some remarks cheering Pike’s accomplishments as a religious leader and a community one.

“Our community has always counted on you for your wisdom, compassion and support,” she said. “We can’t thank you for all you have done for us and meant to us. We look forward to many more years of leadership and friendship.”

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Opinion: A history of hostile divisions

By former Assemblymember Steven Sanders

After one year of the Trump presidency, the divide in America is wider and angrier. In truth, there have always been two Americas. One inhabited by mostly Caucasian persons who were born here with parents who were born here. And then there are those whose skin is not white, or newly arrived who speak with an accent, or who are poor and unwashed but ready to work to improve their lives or for their children’s better future.

The two segments of America were often separated by law or circumstances. There was always an underlying tension between the haves and the aspiring.

The American ethos can be found on the inscription of the Statute of Liberty. The promise of America is written into our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and the policies articulated by every president interested in making this nation more inclusive and more pluralistic. A place where refugees would be protected and immigrants were welcomed and given an opportunity to succeed no matter their race, religion, national or cultural background. Those principles are what made America
exceptional in the history of nations.

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Prescription meds are absolutely worsening opioid crisis: MSBI doc

Mount Sinai Beth Israel has the world’s oldest and largest opioid treatment program. (Photo by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

By Sabina Mollot

On Tuesday, the mayor announced a lawsuit targeting major pharmaceutical companies, who he said have contributed to the city’s opioid explosion by getting people hooked on prescription drugs.

In 2016, more than 1,000 people in New York City died in a drug overdose that involved an opioid, the highest year on record. Additionally, according to city data, more New Yorkers died from opioid overdoses last year than from car accidents and homicides combined.

The suit is asking for a half million dollars to cover current and future costs to combat the crisis at hospitals not to mention costs relating to courtrooms and the morgue.

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Assembly candidates talk traffic, construction and MCIs at forum

Assembly candidates Mike Corbett, Harvey Epstein and Sandro Sherrod at a forum held by local Democratic clubs on Saturday (Photo by Bert Ongkeo)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Candidates for the 74th Assembly District seat met for a forum hosted by the Tilden Democratic Club and the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club last Saturday evening at the Seafarer’s International House. The forum had been postponed from earlier in the month due to the snowstorm, although the Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats, which originally planned the event with the two other clubs, ultimately braved the weather and held its forum that day.

Sandro Sherrod, a technology director at NYU Langone, Harvey Epstein, a project director with the Urban Justice Center, and Mike Corbett, an aide to City Council Member Costa Constantinides, all agreed that they didn’t disagree on much but shared their specific positions on issues such as affordability, the MTA, education and other topics.

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Man who jumped from Stuy Town roof has died

East 14th Street

East 14th Street (Photo by Sabina Mollot

By Sabina Mollot

A resident who jumped from the roof of his building last Monday evening has died from his injuries. Police said Doan Hoffman, 47, initially survived the impact and was taken to Beth Israel in critical condition. However, he couldn’t be saved. Hoffman resided at 625 East 14th Street, between Avenues B and C, on the eighth floor.

Rick Hayduk, general manager of Stuyvesant Town, said, “This is a tragic event; our thoughts continue to be with his family and friends.”

New commanding officer for 13th Pct.

Deputy Inspector Steven Hellman

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

A familiar face is coming to fill the shoes of Deputy Inspector Brendan Timoney at the 13th Precinct, who announced at the most recent community council meeting last Tuesday that he would be transferring to the Midtown South precinct. Timoney, who has been at the precinct for the last three years, said that Deputy Inspector Steven Hellman, previously the precinct’s executive officer, would be coming to replace him. Hellman started at his new post last Thursday.

In an interview during his first stint at the precinct in 2014, Hellman told Town & Village that he comes from a police family, with his father, uncle and brother all former or current police captains in the NYPD. Hellman started in the department in 1994 at the 19th precinct, covering the Upper East Side, and spent six years as an officer in Washington Heights. Prior to becoming the executive officer at the 13th Precinct in 2014, Hellman was in the same position at the 9th Precinct, which covers the East Village.

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Second Women’s March packs streets on Saturday

Photos by Maria Rocha-Buschel

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Thousands of women came out to support the #MeToo movement this weekend in the second annual Women’s March, taking place a year after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Protests took place across the country, with 200,000 people coming out in New York, according to the mayor’s office, and upwards of 600,000 people in Los Angeles, as well as protests in Washington, D.C. and Palm Beach, Florida, not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

This year’s March in New York spread from at least West 72nd Street on Central Park West, the official starting point, down to Columbus Circle, but police at the event near Lincoln Center on Saturday afternoon said that there were also entry points at West 86th Street. Downtown A, C and D trains were bypassing the 72nd Street stop around 1 p.m. due to crowd conditions. Signs at the March this year focused on sexual harassment and abortion rights, as well as immigration issues and the recent government shutdown.

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Boy Scout collects instruments to donate to local schools

Boy Scout Karl Kilb (center) sold homemade chocolates shaped like instruments at St. John the Evangelist Church on East 55th Street last November. (From left to right: Charles Greatrex, Jacob Tannen, Trevor Kilb, Karl Kilb, Calista Kilb, Christopher Gergis and Jed Chapin)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

When Boy Scout and LaGuardia High School student Karl Kilb had to come up with an idea for a service project to become an Eagle Scout, helping out young musicians seemed like the perfect fit. The 15-year-old sophomore is an instrumental music major at the performing arts school and plays piano, clarinet and saxophone.

“I wanted to do something to help the music community and wanted to do something that would reflect my interests in music so this combined those things really well,” he said

Recently, Kilb, an East Midtown resident, enlisted the help of his fellow members at Troop 414 at Immaculate Conception and together they collected 67 instruments that will be distributed at neighborhood schools.

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Man and woman violently mugged near Stuy Town

Suspects wanted for additional incidents

The police are seeking three people they believe are behind three robberies, including one across from Stuyvesant Town.

In that incident, on Sunday, January 21 at about 1 a.m., three people, two male and one female, approached a man and a woman as they sat on a park bench on East 20th Street in Stuyvesant Cove Park. The suspect then threw the female victim, 28, to the ground by her hair and punched the male victim, 22. Together the muggers got a credit card and cash from the woman and a Samsung cell phone from the man.

Female victims were also targeted in the other known incidents.

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Letters to the editor, Jan. 25

Cartoon by Jim Meadows

Remembering a talented neighbor

To all our friends and neighbors, it saddens me to tell you that last month we lost Phoebe Hoss, a longtime resident of Stuyvesant Town.  Phoebe died on December 13, 2017 at the age of 91. A memorial for her was held earlier this month at All Souls Unitarian church where she was a longtime member.

We lived in the same building and shared a love of poetry that resulted in the publication in 2006 of River Voices, original poems by Stuyvesant and Peter Cooper poets that included Rose Bernal, Esse Casnoff, Esther B. Cohen, Marilyn Driscoll, Mary Fordham, Joy Garland, Barbara Gurman, Phoebe Hoss, Anne Lazarus, Pamela Machado, David Mayer, Eve Nethercott, Judy Schermer, Alison Carb Sussman, and Peggy Unsworth. It was Phoebe who gave countless hours to helping the poets by proofreading our work and giving suggestions.

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Police Watch: Suspect arrested for Kips Bay mugging, Teen busted for lewdness

SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR VIOLENT MUGGING IN KIPS BAY LAST YEAR
Police arrested 22-year-old Jonathan Rivera last Thursday for a robbery that allegedly took place at the corner of East 29th Street and First Avenue last November 22. Police said that Rivera, along with two other people who weren’t arrested, punched the victim several times and broke his eyeglasses before swiping his Beats headphones and fleeing.

TEEN ARRESTED FOR LEWDNESS AT WASHINGTON IRVING
Police arrested a teenager for public lewdness inside the Washington Irving Campus at 345 East 15th Street last Friday at 4:08 p.m. Police said that the teen pulled down his pants and exposed himself to a female student inside the school. The teen’s name is being withheld due to his young age.

WOMAN ARRESTED FOR THEFT ALSO CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED BANK ROBBERY
Police charged a 35-year-old woman with a 2015 attempted bank robbery in the Lower East Side last Wednesday after she was arrested for an alleged grand larceny and possession of stolen property.
Police said that Sheena Bellinger was employed by the MADE Hotel at 44 West 29th Street and while she was working on November 2, 2017, she allegedly took someone’s wallet containing a debit card, MetroCard and ID that had been left on a bar stool. After she was in custody for the theft, police found through further investigation that she allegedly tried to rob an HSBC at 307 Grand Street on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 4:08 p.m. She allegedly passed the teller a demand note underneath a black plastic bag but the teller didn’t comply with the request and Bellinger allegedly fled the scene with the note.

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Worker dies at Flatiron construction site

The death was being investigated at the site on Tuesday morning. (Photos by Sabina Mollot)

By Sabina Mollot

Police are investigating the death of a construction worker found at the bottom of an elevator shaft on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old victim, later identified as Brooklyn resident Jucong Wu, was working on the ninth floor of 111 East 24th Street, a Sam Chang-owned building in the Flatiron District.

Emergency services were called to the site at 8:53 a.m. and pronounced the man dead at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing, though a police source said it appears to be a job site accident.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings, Wu was employed by U-Tek Elevator Inc., a firm that was installing an elevator car in the 12-story building, which is being converted to a 130-room hotel by Chang’s McSam Hotel Group.

Wu, however, was not tied to a fall-protection safety line, said the DOB.

A person who picked up the phone at McSam Hotel Group declined to comment.

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Soapbox: A PCV employee saved my life

By David Chowes

On Tuesday, October 24 at 4 p.m., I was alone in my apartment; I was trying to find a particular magazine from a large stack in my bedroom. Having fallen 10 years ago, my balance continued to be affected.

As I bent down, attempting to find this publication, within about one-tenth of a second I fell and everything in the room seemed to explode. Somehow the box-spring ended up on top of the mattress and the blanket and bed cover seemed to disappear.

I tried to get up – but in vain! I was on the carpeted floor and tried to get my bearing – and having hurt my right shoulder I was in continuous and excruciating pain.

But no matter how much effort I made, I just crawled and added to my misery.

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Powers named criminal justice chair

Council Member Keith Powers (Photo courtesy of Keith Powers)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

City Councilmember Keith Powers is getting in the swing of things in the Council, having been appointed chair of the Criminal Justice Services committee by City Council Speaker Corey Johnson last Thursday.

Powers said that the committee will likely meet about once a month and one of the major issues will be on the possible closure of Riker’s Island. The committee will be discussing how the city should deal with the long-term future of the facility and whether it should be closed or transformed.

“In closing one of the largest jails in the country, we would have to make sure we have alternatives and options for folks afterwards when they get out,” he said. “The point is to rehabilitate people so they’re prepared for the real world, for the workforce or offer literacy, and want to make sure people have a menu of options and so they can have a peaceful life.”

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